Michelle Rodriguez, known for her roles in numerous films including the "Fast and the Furious" franchise, has shared that her strict Jehovah's Witness upbringing made Hollywood feel like a "devil's world" when she began her acting career.
Rodriguez, 48, spoke about her experience at a 25th-anniversary screening of the original "The Fast and the Furious" film in Los Angeles. She explained that her religious background meant she was unfazed by the industry's often permissive atmosphere. "I came from a Jehovah’s Witness background at the time," she told People magazine. "So it’s like none of this really means anything to me. And so you’re dealing with a kid who’s not affected. I’m already playing in the so-called devil’s world in my mind as a 20-year-old, obviously."
Before being cast as Letty Ortiz in the street racing series, Rodriguez had appeared in only two independent films, "Girlfight" and "3 A.M." She recounted being introduced to acting in New York and how Vin Diesel, after seeing "Girlfight," wanted her character to be his on-screen girlfriend in "The Fast and the Furious."
Rodriguez stated that her upbringing led her to disregard the typical concerns of the film industry, finding excitement instead in the action-oriented aspects of the role. "I really loved being able to get in a car, train, learn how to shoot guns, learn how to race cars," she said. "To me, that was the exciting thing. Doing things that you weren’t allowed to do in real life. Break windows, be violent, all that stuff."
The film "The Fast and the Furious" follows an undercover police officer, portrayed by the late Paul Walker, who goes deep undercover within a street racing gang led by Diesel's character.
In previous discussions, Rodriguez has elaborated on the intensity of her upbringing. On Facebook Watch's "Red Table Talk" in 2020, she mentioned that celebrating holidays like birthdays and Halloween was considered taboo, and she did not watch Disney movies until her teenage years due to their perceived association with witchcraft. In a 2015 interview with Interview magazine, she described her religious background as having "scarred me for life" and spoke of leading a "double life" when participating in door-to-door evangelism with her family while also navigating typical childhood interests at school.